Men’s Lacrosse (9-0 overall, 3-0 ECAC, No. 3 ranking in USILA/STX poll)
The perfect season is still attainable as the Hoyas improved on their undefeated record with a nail-biting 8-7 victory over Hobart College on Saturday. Very muddy conditions and a solid defensive effort from Hobart forced the Hoyas to rely on a more balanced scoring attack than usual. Senior attack Doug Staab led with three goals, while junior defenseman Kyle Sweeney, sophomore midfield Walid Hajj, junior attacks Mike Hammer and Jordan Vettoretti and senior attack Steve Dusseau netted one apiece. Saturday marked only the second time this season where Dusseau, the nation’s leading scorer, failed to generate a hat trick. However, his lone goal with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter proved to be the game winner. Hobart rallied in the fourth with two goals, but couldn’t get the game-tying goal past senior goaltender Scott Schroeder. Schroeder finished with 12 saves.
The Hoyas’ final home game takes place this Saturday, April 20, against ECAC League rival No. 13 University of Massachusetts Minutemen. Head Coach Dave Urick calls it a “must win game,” noting that “either UMass or Georgetown is going to win the ECAC and earn the automatic bid to the Tournament.”
“They’re coming in with a lot of incentive as they didn’t make the tournament last year and we’ve beaten them the last two years,” he said.
A win for the Hoyas assures an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and keeps the undefeated season alive. Face-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Men’s Track
The Georgetown Men’s Outdoor Track team gave a strong showing this past weekend at the Sea Rays Relays, held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The Hoyas won four events at the three-day meet, with several athletes qualifying for post-season competetion. Graduate student Josh Rollins won the men’s triple jump competition with a mark of 53 feet, 7 3/4 inches and he took fourth place in the long jump with a mark of 24 feet, 11 3/4 inches. Both qualified him for the NCAA championships. Sophomore Jesse O’Connell (fifth in the 800 meter-run) and senior James Graham (second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase) also qualified for post-season competition.
Georgetown relay teams impressed the field, as each team recorded top-5 finishes in their respective events. The greatest accomplishment of the weekend for the Hoyas came from the distance medley relay team. Their time of 9 minutes, 49.19 seconds beat the No. 1-ranked Tennessee team, who finished a stride behind at 9:49.58. Next up for the men’s track team is the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., with the Penn Relays and Big East Championships right around the corner.
Women’s Track
The Georgetown Women’s Outdoor Track team, tied for 21st on the Trackwire Online Top 25 Poll, also performed well at the Sea Rays Relays. Junior Jill Laurendeau won the 1,500-meter run with an impressive time of 4 minutes 22.64 seconds. Her finish qualified her for the NCAAs, along with Senior Tyrona Heath (fifth in the 800-meter run). Six other Hoyas will receive post-season invites, based on their performance this past weekend. The team’s next meet is the Metro Invitational in Emmitsburgh, Md. set for April 20.
Men’s Baseball (7-35, 2-15 Big East)
The Hoyas continued their tough season, dropping a 7-1 decision at crosstown rival George Washington on Tuesday. The Colonials hit four home runs during the game and four separate GW pitchers held Georgetown to one run. First-year third baseman Bill Quinn hit his sixth home run of the year in the eighth inning for the Hoyas. First-year pitcher Tyler Abbott gave up two runs and lasted only 3 1/3 innings for his second loss of the season.
Last Sunday, Georgetown lost both games of a doubleheader at Boston College. Game one was a classic pitchers duel. On the hill for Georgetown was senior Eric Sutton, who went the distance, allowing 10 hits and four earned runs while striking out six. However, Boston College’s senior Mark Sullivan, whose complete game 11-strikeout performance was a season high, proved to be the difference.
Sophomore catcher Michael Lombardi provided most of the Hoyas’ offense, with a tremendous two-run homer to center field in the fourth. The Hoyas then jumped to a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning on sophomore outfielder Carlos Gazitua’s run-scoring groundout. But the Eagles tagged Sutton for two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Sullivan pitched a scoreless seventh for his team-leading seventh win of the season.
Game two of the doubleheader remained 3-2 in favor of the Eagles through six innings, when they unleashed their offense, scoring six runs in the next two innings. The deadly blow came by way of a powerful home run by junior first baseman Vinny Scavone in the seventh. The Hoyas will look to improve upon their 2-15 conference record, as nine of their remaining games are against Big East teams.
Georgetown’s next game is this afternoon against D.C.-rival Howard at 4 p.m at home.
